Diddy on NFL Team Ownership: ‘I Don’t Want to Be Associated with Oppressing Black Men’

Diddy was once in the running to become an owner of a NFL team earlier this year. A part of an investment team with billionaire David Tepper, the rap mogul, along with NBA star Stephen Curry, could have purchased the Carolina Panthers for $2.2 billion back in May, but negotiations fell through.

In hindsight, Diddy sees it as a blessing.

In his an interview with radio personality Big Boy, Diddy said that he no longer has interest in owning an NFL team. Following the league’s new policy that players must stand during the national anthem or get fined, the rap mogul said he wants no part of an organization that controls players thoughts and feelings.

"Man, I really wanted to go in there and be a part of the NFL and try to be a positive change," he told Big Boy. "This last move, though, I don’t even want to own an NFL team no more."

“I don’t want to be associated with oppressing black men," he continued. "I don’t want to be associated with telling grown-ass men what they can do and cannot do."

However, he supports any NFL player who want to continue the protest during the national anthem. Again, the protests are not about the U.S. flag, it's about the ongoing problems facing black men and women when it comes to interaction with police.

“All the NFL players, they’re in a messed-up position, but this is a defining time,” he said noting that Muhammad Ali and Jim Brown both sacrificed money and their careers with their respective protests.

"If Ali and them was able to do it and Jim Brown was able to do it, if ya’ll stick together, they can’t break you." he continued. "And if Ali and them was able to do it and Jim Brown was able to do it, if ya’ll stick together, they can’t break you."

Fellow rapper and mogul T.I. feels the same way. When asked if he was interested in owning an NFL team he simply said, "No."

"I don't wanna spend a bunch of money on something that I can't do what I want, when I want," Tip explained. "I don't want to answer to the NFL. If I spend tens of millions or hundreds of millions, I want full rein and jurisdiction over everything ... you can't do that with the NFL."